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Like many of you, I have been floored by what seems to be the constant exposure of Christian leaders around the world at the moment. I was completely distraught over a final report from one ministry – so much so that one morning, I woke up my wife because of my sobbing.

It’s distressing to think of the impact that particular leader had on the women he abused. It’s also disturbing to think about the impact on people around the world who looked up to him and modelled their own ministries around his teaching and example.

More Exposure of Broken Leaders is Coming

Sadly, such examples are also close to home, and last year, in particular, was difficult for me. We have also started to see some kingdom businesspeople across Brisbane exposed. I had another case of this yesterday, and I was musing with God about it this morning.

As I was pondering it, I felt God say that we are about to see yet another level of leaders exposed. These will include those who have followed these ministries and have not done things right but have gotten away with it thus far. Some will not even think that they have been doing things wrong as they have simply followed the example of what their leaders have done.

Late this afternoon, I was informed of another such case in our city that hasn’t hit public circulation yet, but no doubt it will. Please don’t ask for details. That situation will/has affected hundreds of people’s lives.

Staying Hidden

Many of you know that I have been working in the kingdom business space since 2000. That’s a long time. As a result, I have observed many things about the business world.

It is easy for a kingdom business leader to hide what is happening behind the scenes. Unless you are an ASX-listed company, the company’s financials do not need to be made public. Therefore, you can make statements about the size of your business and the impact that it is having without having to produce financial statements to prove it.

Many businesses don’t have boards to which they are accountable.

It is easier to stay quiet when there are issues and to withdraw from going to events or church until the storm passes over. Marketing strategies are employed to disguise the real situation while the business goes through a major change behind the scenes. But they don’t say the real reason for that happening. PR consultants are employed, or smokescreen statements are issued.

Many business people do not have close friends who can call them out on practices. It is easy to dismiss a staff member, pay them to keep them quiet and have them sign NDAs as part of the legal settlement process. Google reviews can be faked easily by paying your customers to write them, or negative reviews can be easily dismissed.

How many times have I heard the phrase, “You can trust him because he is a Christian in business”? Yet the outworking of their practices does not align with the words and images that they portray.

Many pastors see business people as cash cows. As a result, they have put a number of business leaders on pedestals because the money that they give the church is worth more than how the money was made. Often, unscrupulous business dealings are overlooked as the money becomes “sanctified” when it is donated to the church/ministry. Some business people have used money as a means of almost “bribing” God and asking for forgiveness as they do that.

I have often heard this referred to as “plundering the Egyptians” – taking money from people who are not believers in Jesus and bringing it into the church for kingdom purposes.

Sadly, during the covid years, I saw a number of my friends leave the church because pastors switched to doing what was necessary to keep their churches alive. Business people realised that they had only been courted for the money and not for real relationships.

Bring Things into the Light

Why am I saying all this?

I want to encourage the business people within my friendship circle to take time to review everything with God.

Some of you know that you are doing things that you should not be doing. You feel trapped. You are caught in the wrong relationships, and you are caught financially. You are worried that if you stop doing what is wrong, there will be dire financial consequences for your business and your family.

Some of you do not treat your customers as you should. Your marketing tells half-truths. You are doing what you need to do to get the sale and the money in the door, knowing that you cannot provide the full service that you should.

Be careful of how you treat your suppliers. Are you paying them on time? Are you working together for each other’s success?

There is a Jewish saying that withholding money is akin to murder.

Recently it was pointed out to me that it is one thing to sin, but it is far worse to cause another to sin. We see this in a lot of these leaders’ failures. They are not just sinning themselves but they are causing others to sin.

When you withhold payment from someone, you may be causing them to sin, as they do not have the money to do what they need to do.

How are you treating your staff?

How are you treating your family?

I know that I am personally far from being without sin in some of these areas. But I am seeking to put things right.

It is hard when things that you think will go a certain way don’t. You are left carrying the debt, needing to let staff go, closing down dreams, etc.

Hope

But God.

Matthew 6 is such a key Scripture in this season. I would like to encourage you to read through it many times. The phrase, “Aren’t you much more valuable than they?” (Matthew 6:26) has struck me. Jesus was referring to how God takes care of the birds and provides for them. Then, He reminds us that we are so much more valuable.

This past Christmas season has been a difficult one for me because of some health issues. Then, my doctor prescribed a medication that I had a severe reaction to. The medication stopped me from thinking properly. Fortunately, I am no longer on it, and giving my doctor credit, he profusely apologised to me for putting me on the medication.

That really made me think about how many kingdom business people don’t apologise or make restitution when they have done wrong.

As I start to think and ponder again, I do have a sense that it is time to deal with the heart matters of God’s people in business. We can have the latest and greatest marketing strategy, but that can conceal a multitude of sins.

It is time for all of us, me included, to set time aside and allow the Father to speak to us about the adjustments that need to be made. The relationships that need to be put right. The restitution that needs to be made. The changes that need to happen. Knowing that as we do this, we can trust that God will take care of us.

Please don’t do this alone. Find a trusted friend who you can confide in and walk through you with this.

For the past 18 months or so, I have done this with one other person who confessed some very difficult things. Over the period, God has graciously given him the grace to stop doing what was happening, make restitution, and see the goodness of God shine forth in the business’s bottom line.

It was not easy, but joy came in the morning (Psalm 30:5).

If we walk that same humble path, joy will come for us too.

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Photo via Adobe. You can find Wes Leake’s website here: http://www.businessblessings.com.au/